


As We Turn Toward the Light

by sinestrated



Series: Unfettered [4]
Category: Leverage
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:16:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22186963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinestrated/pseuds/sinestrated
Summary: Eliot accidentally outs Quinn and himself to the team.
Relationships: Mr. Quinn/Eliot Spencer
Series: Unfettered [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1572586
Comments: 6
Kudos: 95





	As We Turn Toward the Light

**Author's Note:**

> Only one more to go, everyone! *rubs hands together*

Eliot Spencer usually has a pretty good filter between his brain and his mouth. Can’t make it as a hitter as long as he has without having some sort of sense, after all, especially when it could make the difference between someone handing you the package you’ve been sent to retrieve, and trying to murder you as messily as possible.

In his defense, he’s not really thinking when it happens. They’ve just finished a job that involved two weeks of prep and one spectacular con that now has their mark, the corrupt CEO of a trucking company, going to prison for a very long time on charges of fraud and racketeering. The client is happy, the bad guy’s taken care of, and everyone’s in a good mood: Parker and Hardison are cheering their way through some sort of racing game with lots of explosions, Sophie is brewing a fresh pot of coffee, Quinn and Nate are comparing notes in low voices at the breakfast bar, and Eliot’s washing mushrooms. 

He’s feeling pretty good, remembering the look of tearful gratitude on the client’s face as she thanked them, thinking about how he’ll use the money they just earned to surprise Quinn with a couple of new collars for the dogs, when Hardison whoops to the sound of another explosion and says, “Kicked yo’ ass! Hell, yeah! Who wants steak tonight to celebrate?”

Sounds of assent from the rest of the team, except for Quinn, of course, who says, “Nah, I already cooked.”

“What? Come on, man!” Hardison turns on him with a bright grin. “After how you helped Eliot beat the livin’  _ shit _ outta those security guys at the loading dock? Steak’s on me, man! What’s your poison, T-bone? Ribeye? Filet mignon? Whatever it is, Alec Hardison’s  _ got  _ you, know what I mean?”

Quinn smiles too, but shakes his head. “Thanks, man, really. But I’m good.”

“Aw, come on!” Hardison says. “Is this like, a weird I’m-not-really-part-of-the-team type deal? ‘Cause if it is, yo, man. Eliot’s brought you in on, like, the last five jobs we’ve done. You’re  _ in _ , bro, you get me?”

“I’m touched,” Quinn says, “and thanks. But that’s not what it is.”

“Then what?”

And Eliot, setting the mushrooms down on the cutting board, thinking about Cricket and Rhea piled on the dog beds at home, still happy and high off the half-million dollars he and Quinn just got dumped in their accounts, speaks without thinking. “Quinn’s vegan when he’s not working.”

Silence.

It actually takes him a few seconds to notice. When he looks up, it’s to see everyone staring at him. From his spot next to Nate, Quinn looks vaguely panicked, and then Eliot’s brain finally catches up to his mouth. Oh. Oh, shit.

“Why, Eliot.” Sophie’s got this little smile on her face, what Eliot likes to call her Grifter Grin, designed to draw every last bit of information out of you. “I wonder how in the world you came to know that.”

“It does seem like a very specific bit of intel,” Nate says, eyebrows raised.

Eliot swallows and looks at Quinn. He hasn’t told the team about them, not yet, even though it’s been a couple months since Quinn moved into his place and retired. They’ve never really talked about it since, instead just sort of quietly agreed that it’s best this way: they’re more than capable of taking care of themselves, true, but that doesn’t mean the whole world has to know about their relationship and all its points of vulnerability. What they have is good—really fucking great, actually, and they’ll tell the important people when the time comes.

So does that mean now is the time?

Quinn clears his throat. His eyes never leave Eliot as he says, flatly, “It’s always good to know your competition’s potential weaknesses. Right, Spencer?”

It’s an out if Eliot’s ever seen one. Quinn’s going to let him choose, because of course that’s the kind of person Quinn is, always following Eliot’s lead, letting him set the pace and the tone of where they go. And Eliot realizes, suddenly, that it’s okay. He hasn’t led them astray yet, even though there’ve been plenty of chances for both of them to fuck everything up and destroy this fragile thing between them. The fact that it’s still there, still going strong even in the face of two stubborn, deadly men raised on violence and betrayal and a total mistrust of the world...it means something. It means everything.

He takes a deep breath and dives.

“Yeah, that is a good strategy,” he says, watching Quinn. “But in this case, it’s just ‘cause we live together.”

Another beat of silence. Then the team explodes: Parker squeals loudly enough to startle a bird outside into flight, Sophie starts cackling, and Nate shakes his head with a chuckle. Quinn, though, just looks at Eliot, a slow smile spreading across his face to light up his eyes, and Eliot grins right back, knowing he’s made the right choice.

Hardison, of course, looks around at all of them in plain confusion. “Wait, you mean, like, he’s crashin’ at your place for a bit? Or does it—oh.  _ Oh. _ ” Lightbulb, meet Alec Hardison. “Holy shit. Holy  _ shit _ , you for real? You two?  _ For real? _ ”

It’s not bad disbelief, not from the crazy grin on his face, so Eliot just shakes his head. “Not too smart for a genius, are you?”

“Hey, s’not like y’all was bein’ obvious about it or nothin’!” Hardison retorts. “Although I guess that makes sense, with your line of work. But holy  _ shit _ .” He turns on Quinn. “Is that why you’ve been on all those jobs with us? And why Eliot’s all of a sudden started buyin’ all that dog food?”

“I thought he was preparing for an odd con,” Sophie says, and Quinn laughs.

“No,” he says, “not unless you’re talking about trying to con our dogs into eating kibble, which,” his gaze shifts, bright with amusement, “isn’t gonna happen no matter how much you buy, Spencer, you know that.”

“Hey, it says meat is the first ingredient!”

“You know what else has meat as the first ingredient?  _ Actual meat. _ That’s in our freezer.”

“But I’m goin’ to the fish market every other day, Quinn! The guy there thinks I’ve got some sorta weird fetish!”

“Well, I  _ told _ you not to spoil ‘em the first time, didn’t I?”

“Wow.” Parker shakes her head, blonde braids bobbing. “You two really are a couple.”

That prompts a laugh out of Nate as the leader of their team hops off his chair. “Well, I guess there isn’t much to say about this then, is there?” He smiles and claps Quinn companionably on the shoulder. “Welcome to the family.”

And that’s that.

Nate goes to join Sophie at the coffee machine, laughing low. Parker pokes Hardison in the shoulder (“Ow! What’s that for, girl?”) and draws him back into the videogame. Quinn shakes his head and looks at Eliot. “What did I just agree to?”

Eliot grins, heart swelling with warmth and promise. “Somethin’ wonderful.”

Quinn returns his smile, slow and soft and absolutely fucking beautiful. “Yeah,” he says, “I agree.”

Eliot knows he’s not talking about the team.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Regarding translations:** All my works, including this one, can be translated without first asking my express permission. I ask only that you credit me as the original author and provide a link back to the original work. For anything other than translations, please ask first. Thanks.


End file.
